Page 145 of Trailer Trash

“No,” she replies, then swallows hard.

I force her hands forward, feeding the knife into my mouth. The cold blade touches my tongue, metallic and familiar. She tries to pull it out, but I won’t let her. I tilt my head, pressing the blade to the corner of my mouth. It begins to slice, coating my tongue with blood.

Frida doesn’t panic, though.

She leans close. “It won’t bring Asher back.”

The words are a punch to the gut and she knows it.

I stand straight and yank the knife from her hands, then slip it back into my pocket.

“You bitch,” I growl.

“I should’ve brought the taser.” She smiles, triumphant but still uneasy.

The sharp sound of clapping startles us. I glance over my shoulder.

Brax grins ear-to-ear. “Now that’s foreplay. I got a fuckin’ boner.”

I wipe the blood seeping from the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand, then laugh.

“Fine,” Frida says impatiently. “Hang out with losers. Kill yourself. At least I tried.”

She turns and jogs down the apartment’s steps. I watch quietly from the balcony as she weaves through the parking lot to her Mercedes.

It feels like the last piece of my past has closed the door for good.

I miss one woman.

The girl who made me feel something without drugs.

My little CNA. The one with the sharp tongue and perfect ass. The one who thought I was a problem and wanted me anyway. I just hoped it would be her who showed up.

She didn’t.

Frida did.

Brax pads over and hands me a paper towel for the blood still seeping from the nick.

“I think I have a small dick,” he says, breaking the silence.

I can’t help but snicker.

“What?”

“This chick blew me last night. Swallowed me like I had nothing. She didn’t gag once!”

I buckle over, laughing hard. It feels good to laugh.

He laughs too. “I’m serious, bro. A pretty chocolate thing who swears she’s a virgin. She shouldn’t be able to swallow swords like that... I’d date her if she wasn’t a fat chick.”

The fat chick line causes me to pause. Not because of whatever girl he’s talking about, but because of Harlow. I’ll miss seeing her curvy body and the way her clothes pulled on her ass when she moved. How soft she felt against my skin.

My heart sinks.

Her laugh.

I move my tongue around in my mouth as if I taste something bad.